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Desk collected in Wisconsin, probably second half of the nineteenth century.

Object name

Desk

Date

ca. 1850-1900

Dimensions

36”H x 24 1/4"W X 20 1/4"D

Materials and techniques

Painted wood

Current location

Eagle, Waukesha County, Wisconsin

Description

Four square tapered and notched legs with chamfered corners. Diamond-shaped bosses are applied to the upper part of the legs. A back rail featuring open diamond-shaped cutouts is attached to the desk frame with screws. Interior dividers are fashioned from what appears to be cigar-box wood. The single drawer is of nailed construction, with a flat two-board bottom. Inlaid reddish diamond-shaped escutcheon. Drawer pulls missing. Traces of what may be the original red paint are visible through the current coat of black paint.

History

According to Old World Wisconsin records, this desk was acquired from antiques dealer Jim Babcock in 1981. Although no further history is known, the desk's chamfered corners and diamond-shaped bosses are reminiscent of a small cupboard in a private collection in Wisconsin. That cupboard is attributed to Aslak Olsen Lie, a Norwegian cabinetmaker who settled in Dane County, Wisconsin in 1848.